Steam-boiler safety device



No Model.)

D. A. REAGAN. STEAM BOILER SAFETY DEVICE.

No. 600,271. Patented Mar. 8,1898.

Witnesses. I nventor.

UNTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DOMINICK A. REAGAN, OF ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF PART OF HISRIGHT TO MICHAEL J. BUCK, AUGUSTUS V. DIVELY, JOI-IN T. BALTZELL, ALBERTP. SHARP, FERDINAND BENDHEIM, ANDREW W. CHERRY, VILLIAM T. SIIOMBERG,ALBERT C. QUANDT, ALEXANDER CLAYCOMB, AND JOHN REAGAN, OF SAME PLACE,AND AUGUST WISE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. i

STEAM -BOILER SAFETY DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 600,271, dated March 8,1898.

Application filed February 25, 1897. Serial No. 624,967. (No model.)

a certain new and useful Improvement in Steam-Boiler Safety Devices, ofwhich the following is a true and exact description, reference being hadto the accompanying drawro ings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to the construction of steam-boilers, and has forits object to provide a novel device whereby in the event of the waterin the boiler falling to a predetermined danger-level the steam will bedischarged into the fire-box, and also to provide a novel deflectingdevice in the fire-box.

Heretofore devices having my first purpose in view have been planned andmade to dezo pend for their operation upon the use of fusible plugs; butpractical experience has shown that plugs of fusible metal are anunreliable and unsatisfactory device,and so far as I know they are notnow and have not been success- 2 5 fully used. I have ascertained thatiron or steel placed in and subjected to the intense heat of the boilerlire-box on one side and exposed to the action, while in a highly-heatedcondition, of steam upon the other side Will 3o be rapidly burned orcorroded and will yield to the energy of high-pressure steam in a veryshort time after the conditions mentioned are brought into existence;and my invention consists in great part in the use of a chamber 3 5 ofiron or steel unprovided with a fusible plug, said chamber being placedin the firebox and placed also in communication with the boiler byapassage opening into the boiler at or near the dan ger-line determinedupon. 4o Further, I have found it of great advantage to use an iron orsteel box provided with a series of fire-tubes running through it andthrough which the flame of the fire-box can freely pass, and in place ofusing, as heretofore, pipes or connections leading into the boiler andterminating at the desired level of communication with the boiler Iemploy tubes firmly secured to the top of the boiler and to the top ofthe fire-box and opening through the top of the lire-box into the ironor steel 5o chamber aforesaid. Through the Walls of these tubes I formopenings into the boiler at the desired levels, and thus at the sametime provide for the proper communication between the boiler and theiron box in the flrebox and provide the boiler with strong tubular sidesplaced where they are of pronounced advantage. Preferably I form the boxin the form of a deiiecting-plate extending down from the top of thefire box and entirely 6o across the same,said defiecting-plate boxserving the usual purposes of a nre-arch and also as a flue-protector,preventing the passage of cold air direct to the tubes when thefire-door is opened. Again, the box serves the purpose in normaloperation of a Water circulation and does so with great efficiency.

Reference is now had to the drawings which illustrate my invention, andin which- Figure l is a front View of a boiler and fire- 7o box equippedin accordance with my invention, said view being taken on section-line l1 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken on thesection-line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

A is the boiler, and B the fire-box, conventional forms beingshown,which may of course be modified in any desired way.

C indicates the grate-door, and D the redoor.

E E E indicate the usual fire-tubes extend- 8o ing through the boiler.

F and F are tubes firmly secured, as shown, to the top of the boiler andto the top of the fire-box, openings (indicated at b b) being formedthrough the topof the fire-box, so as to communicate With the interiorof the tubes.

Cr and G are tubular attachments secured on the under side of thefire-box top, so as to register with the tubes F and F', and to thebottom of these tubular attachments Gis se- 9o cured the iron or steelbox H,'(preferably extending across the {ire-box and inclined, as

`shown,) placed so as to receive the most intense action of the fire inthe furnace and preferably provided, as shown, with a series offire-tubes I so placed that there will be a natural draft through them.Through the tubes F and F', I form openings f and f', the lowermostopening f being at'the extreme danger-level and the opening f in thetube F being preferably slightly below the normal Water-level of theboiler. The difference in the level of the two openings fand f willnaturally permit a circulation of water through the box H. Obviously asingle communication-as, for instance, through pipe F'-will serve tokeep the box H filled with water if the communicating passage issufliciently large; but it is highly desirable to provide for a regularcirculation, as shown in the drawings.

As soon as the water-level in the boiler falls belowr the openin g f thewater from the boiler Will pass through the pipes into the box H and theWater contained in said box will soon be evaporated into steam. Thedisappearance of Water in the box H will permit it to become intenselyhot under the inliuence of the furnace, and as the box still remainsfull of intensely-heated steam coming in contact with the highly-heatediron orv steel a rapid corrosion of the box ensues, in consequence ofwhich it will soon yield to the pressure of the steam, permitting theescape of steam from the boiler into the fire-box, which of course willpromptly extinguish the lire in the furnace, and thus prevent explosionas well as relieving pressure in the boiler.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with a boiler and its {irebox, a Water-chamber as Hsituated in the ire-box and formed throughout of iron or steel,ire-tubes as I extending through said chamber, and one or more conduitsas F opening into the boiler at or near the low-Water vo eninff as beingat or near the low-Water danger-line and the other opening asf beingslightly below the normal water-line, and a chamber as H of iron orsteel situated in the fire-box and communicating with the boiler throughtubes F F.

3. In combination with a boiler and its firebox, tubes as-F F' securedto the top of the boiler and the top of the ire-box as specified,openings as f f formed in said tubes one such opening as f being at ornear the low-water danger-line and the other opening asf being slightlybelow the normal water-lineland a chamber as H of iron or steel situatedin the nre-box and communicating with the boiler through tubes F F and aseries of iire-tubes extending through chamber H.

4. In combination with a boiler and its firebox provided with iire-tubesas E, a deflectorchamber H situated in and extending across thefire-box, a series of ire-tubes I extending through the chamber H andtubes as FF leading from the inside of the boiler to thedeflector-chamber H and opening into the water-space of the boiler atdifferent levels.

5., In combination with a boiler and its firebox provided withtire-tubes as E, a deflectorchamber I-I formed of iron or steel situatedin and extending across the fire-box, a series of fire-tubes I extendingthrough the chamber H and tubes as F F leading from the inside of theboiler to the detlector-chamber H one tube opening into the boiler at ornear its low-water level and the other slightly below its normalwater-level.

DOMINICK A. REAGAN.

Witnesses:

`W. FRANK VAUGHN, A. V. DIvELY.

